In this case, I’m referring to the description it had during and before WW1, “the sick man of Europe.” I’m not 100% clear on what happened, but it was collapsing on itself, and wound up fracturing.

And I see your point, since I didn’t specify a time period. For a while, they were serous badasses.

I think things could get better, if the democrats take back power, and then display a level of virtue and resolve they we have never seen from them in the history of ever.

I think it more likely that we become the Ottoman Empire.

the whole political system will lose its credibility

I think that ship has sailed.

Our government isn’t quite a case of Trump’s word is law. And it was only two years ago that we had a nearly functional government. When Trump finally does the only good thing he will ever do, we have something to fall back on.

Always has. Always will. (for a given value of “right.”)

Civilization is an effort to be better than that. Occasionally, we succeed.

Eh. There’s a few people I want to kill. What stops me is not fear of god, but the secret service.

Thank you for saving me the trouble.

Also, that one didn’t seem to leave any scars.

I think that refusing to hold her hand was unforgivable.

I mentioned to my wife, after Sam had asked, that the Doctor had, in fact, been in love at least once, and maybe three times, but I wasn’t sure one of them counted.

Seems I was wrong. That one did count.

I wonder why the old TOS fans like me are less impatient with fundamentals of human existence being presented through the growth of young adults?

I’m a TNG person myself. One thing that I very much liked about TNG, DS9, SNW, and to an extent VOY was the competency porn. (And then totally inverted in LDK)

This show doesn’t have much of that. It doesn’t even have what ENT had, which learning to be the professionals we want to see. This is still kids learning to be adults. That’s a different journey entirely.

Don’t get me wrong, I quite like it. But it has issues. But then, don’t they all?

I’ll stop picking nits when I’m cold and dead. We trekkies have a reputation to uphold, after all.

But I’ve go nothing of substance that I object to. It’s a bloody good show.

I used to be Catholic. Every Sunday, they performed the transubstantiation on the hosts and the wine. Every Sunday, I subjected both to analysis by one of the most sensitive chemical sensing device in the world.

Every week, it came back as Styrofoam and wine. Never once was it meat or blood.

Sometimes I think it’s a backlash against what we see as stupid rules that are imposed on us for no reason. We legitimately do want to be able to dispense with the bullshit, and admire people who can.

We are talking about the Navy, right?

And yes, Iran is a bigger, better armed country, so we should use more stuff to attack them.

Assuming we aren’t gong to do the sane thing and not attack them.

I trust they replied “lol, no.”

According to the TNG tech manual, the smooth curves of the ship makes it easier to maintain a warp field in a shape that uses less power while traveling at warp. So, not aerodynamic, but voidynamic, or something.

In this case, the enemy of my enemy is my enemy’s enemy. Nothing more.

Always has been. Sometimes my enemy’s enemy and I want the same thing for a little while.

Maxim 29.

They just use more power.

I see several. Most notably that we seem to keep winding up with leaders that want to enrich themselves rather than make thing better for everyone.

No, it shuffles on, a decaying zombie shell of it’s former theoretical glory.

Still, you put it well. I’m impressed with your literary talent. Tell me, have you ever considered writing a Hungarian phrase book?